TOPIC: Their big singles were alright actually.

And they were quite good live too - I saw them on two consecutive nights on the Fine Art Of Surfacing tour in '79 at the Liverpool Empire a good time was had by all. I think Geldof references those concerts in Liverpool in his autobiography - Is That It? as realising it was the highpoint of the band's career.

Bored of Education wrote:
See, I am not sure about that. He is a loudmouth and has some curmudgeonly aspects but is he really a serious fucking wanker? There may be something that I have forgotten but is he really on the lines of Adele/Sting/Bono/Morrisey?

No, he's not as bad as Sting or Bono, because that level of dickheadness is almost impossible to achieve without actually murdering or raping somebody. He is, however, an obnoxious gobshite.

Oh, come on. He is a singer. 95% of singers are obnoxious gobshites. I say this as an obnoxious gobshite singer. Most singers aren't singers because they have got good voices, they are singers due to the desire to be onstage and the inability to play an instrument.

Oh, come on. He is a singer. 95% of singers are obnoxious gobshites. I say this as an obnoxious gobshite singer. Most singers aren't singers because they have got good voices, they are singers due to the desire to be onstage and the inability to play an instrument.

Apart from the fact that I lumped myself in there in the present tense, I meant vocalists who don't play other instruments. Having said that, there are some vocalists who play instruments who are obnoxious gobshites as well

Hmmm. The Clash were also 'guilty' of this - and they were bloody great.

Not as good as the Rats.

Geldof, unfortunately, is a serious fucking wanker.

See, I am not sure about that. He is a loudmouth and has some curmudgeonly aspects but is he really a serious fucking wanker? There may be something that I have forgotten but is he really on the lines of Adele/Sting/Bono/Morrisey?

Does Adele really deserve to be bracketed with Bono, Morrissey and Sting? Even if she is potentially that awful (is she?), the comparison seems to belittle the consistency and longevity of the big three.

I mean, the bloke from Babylon Zoo was an utter twat, but one couldn't rank him alongside figures who have performed at the SFW heights across four or five different decades.

Yeah, it's easy to dislike Adele because of the massive gap between the hype and the actual quality of her music. She might buy into the hype a bit, but that's what pop stars do. She's certainly not in the league of Bono though.

"most state schools are shit, and I've gotta give you, like, four million quid – are you having a laugh? "

and

"I hate to think where I'd have ended up if I hadn't gone to The Brit School. It's quite inspiring to be around 700 kids who want to be something - rather than 700 kids who just wanna get pregnant so they get their own flat”.

Adele's not crap, but then again nor is she (artistically) worthy of the colossal, overblown hype that follows her every move. But then, every now and again in pop culture, this does happen to someone (shall we say) 'less likely'.

I think her comments were naive and misguided at worst. If she's saying that state education in the UK needs a serious looking at, well I'd not disagree with that. However, I'm not sure she is saying that - so 'take advice from elsewhere' would be my suggestion to her management.